


A New Start

by Bomaruto



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, Mist!Naruto
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-03
Updated: 2018-07-17
Packaged: 2019-01-08 18:01:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12259338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bomaruto/pseuds/Bomaruto
Summary: After a unfruitful trip to Konoha to find who's responsible for manipulating him all these years. Yagura learns of Naruto's secret and invites him home. But due to a certain incident, he's forced to pretend to be Naruto's genin teammate.





	1. Chapter 1

Yagura's head was hurting. It was as if he had been asleep for years.

Flashes of red eyes, darkness, and back to those red eyes flickered through his mind again and again.

_Sharingan._

_Konoha._

_Uchiha._

He clutched onto his head to try and ground himself. He may not know what was going on, but he knew enough to know that he needed to talk to someone to figure out what happened.

A meeting with the elders later and he was devastated. He couldn't believe he had done any of those things, even under a trance. His first conscious act as Mizukage was to call off the entire bloodline massacre and arrest the councilmen that objected to his new orders.

He himself needed to get away from Hidden Mist.

To clear his head. To create a contingency plan before someone captured him again, to make sure certain orders were ignored and to signal if someone was trying to get him to do further atrocities.

It was a headache, but he knew that it was time to pay the Hokage a visit to uncover what the Uchiha were doing and to create new diplomatic relations. The stronger Mist appeared, the easier it would be to get a peaceful deal with the rebels and unite the village again.

* * *

Sarutobi was quite shocked when he saw who had just knocked on his door. Or the fact that someone finally knocked on his door and didn't just walk in or use the window.

"Mizukage, it's an honour to have you here, but you cannot just show up at my office, this isn't how it works, you need to alert us first."

"I apologize, I didn't want anyone to know I was here," the Mizukage said with a deep bow. I haven't exactly… been in control over myself the last years."

Sarutobi looked up, eyes sharp and assessing. The mist had never shown any interest in diplomatic relations prior to this, to have the Mizukage standing before him like this… Needless to say, Sarutobi was weary. "And why are you telling me this?"

"I was controlled by someone from your village," the Mizukage said, voice soft and lilting, his face deceptively youthful. "An Uchiha, to be precise."

Sarutobi's jaw tightened. "It's impossible."

"I saw it- I saw the sharingan burning through my mind, and no other bloodline has the reputation to do something like that," the Mizukage insisted, pausing a moment before continuing, his voice lower. "The sharingan is rumoured to have quite an effect on people... like me."

"As I said, it's impossible. The Uchiha has been dead for years now."

"Dead? How is that possible? They were your strongest clan."

"I'm sure you know a great deal exterminating blood lines," Sarutobi said, voice a touch too tight, words a touch too accusatory.

The Mizukage's lips thinned and he shifted stances, the barest of movements to indicate defensiveness. "I didn't want to do that and I need your help to stop this so it won't happen again."

"The only Uchiha left in the village is twelve years old, he is not capable of doing anything like that," Sarutobi said, raising his pipe to his mouth with an air of finality. " I want you to leave now."

"There's more to talk about."

"I'm sorry, but your village is too volatile to make any deals with at the moment, leave."

"I need your help," the Mizukage banged his fist into the desk.

"And you've nothing to offer in return, I don't want anything to do with you and your village. You don't get on friendly terms with me by lying to me. Do you need my ANBU to escort you out?"

"I can find the door myself." With that the Mizukage left.

"Tell Danzo to meet me tonight, it's not an suggestion but an order," Sarutobi told the ANBU in the room. Sarutobi really had to remind himself of why he didn't hadn't found a successor yet. Then this conversation could have taken another route.

* * *

Naruto was peeking around the corner as he had just seen an unfamiliar kid. There was no hate in those purple eyes.

_This is my chance,"_ Naruto thought to himself, _he don't know me, maybe his parents haven't told him to stay away from me yet._ A smile usually reserved for ramen formed on his face.

The boy turn towards him and ducked back behind the wall for cover.

He was going to be a ninja and ninja had to be sneaky.

But how I'm supposed to make friends if he can't see me?

No, being sneaky is stupid.

He peeked back around the corner and saw the boy started to move away from him. Naruto started to panic. He'd have to hurry before it was too late.

What if I say something stupid?

What if he doesn't like me?

"But I'd rather be a person who blurts out random crap and look like an idiot than a coward," he blurted out aloud and ran quickly around the corner and after the boy. In his eagerness, Naruto forgot to slow down and ran directly into the boy, knocking him over in the process.

If Naruto was panicking before, he was definitely now. He had just blew his big chance. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to! I didn't see you! I was- " Naruto tried to excuse himself as the other boy got up again.

The boy wasn't too much taller than himself, and judging by the forehead protector around his waist Naruto was sure he was a genin. Higher ranked ninja tended to be boring and use a normal uniform.

"Who are you?" the other boy asked.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage, believe it!" Naruto answered with a big grin and a thumbs up. "Who are you?"

"I'm Yagura," the other boy answered.

"No family name?" Naruto asked and without waiting for an answer, he continued. "Don't feel bad, I'm not really an Uzumaki, old man Hokage just gave me the name since no one knew who my parents is. He feels quite sad about it as everytime I ask he's just silent and leaves. But I can be your friend."

Naruto grinned. This was definitely going his way.

"I've friends, I'm not a loser," Yagura answered and stuck out his tongue at Naruto.

This was not going Naruto's way.

He needed a solution for this or he'd lose his first friend.

In that moment, he got it, it was so obvious that Naruto felt stupid for not thinking about it before. It was the first thing he should have done. Ramen. Ayame had promised him that if he brought with him a friend she would threat them to ramen. It was a long time ago, but he hadn't had the chance of taking advantage of it yet.

This was the perfect day, making his first friend _and_ free ramen.

"Do you want ramen?" Naruto offered.

"Huh?" Yagura just looked confused.

Not wanting to mess up again by saying something stupid, Naruto grabbed him by his hand and dragged him towards Ichiraku ramen.

* * *

"Hey Naruto, and is that a friend of yours?" she looked towards Yagura, brows drawing together at the unfamiliar face..

"Yeah, this is Yagura," Naruto said. "We just met and he's a genin, y'know?

If the boy besides him made any reaction to his remark, Naruto wouldn't know.

"I believe I made a promise," she said and put a two bowls of ramen in front of the two boys.

"Itadakimasu," Naruto said as usual before eating and Yagura followed suit.

Yagura watched the kid from the corner of his eye. A seemingly nameless orphan wouldn't have any kind of contact with the leader of the village. No, that would be ridiculous- there had to be something behind it.

As long as no one exposed who he was, he could make this trip more beneficial than it currently had been.

"So you're a ninja too?" he asked Naruto, careful to keep his tone inquisitive but not too probing.

"Not yet, but I'm soon graduating from the academy and I'll become the best ninja," Naruto declared through a mouthful of ramen, "Even better than Jiji and the fourth."

"Jiji?" Yagura's brows knitted.

"The Hokage, baka."

Yagura had to fight to hold himself back. He couldn't let himself be insulted by a kid that wasn't even a ninja, he couldn't screw this up. There was something so obviously different about Naruto but he couldn't quite place his finger on it. He just needed to bide his time, discover more before he drew any solid conclusions.

"Are you and the Hokage good friends then?" Yagura asked, trying to sound as though he was in awe. Or anything, really, that would be appropriate for a reaction from a genin.

"Yeah, he visits me each month and gives me money. But I'd wish he comes more often you know. And I talk to him if the ANBU manages to catch me after a prank." Naruto smiled. "But I'm pretty good at running away, so it isn't that often."

In an instant, his mood shifted away from his happy self.

"The villagers don't like me, they act like I'm not there. So I'm pranking them so I'll get noticed." Naruto explained without getting asked. Naruto had heard that you were supposed to share stuff with your friends.

"That's-" Yagura tried to say before getting interrupted by Naruto.

"Can you keep a secret?" Naruto asked, his face clearly more serious now.

Yagura just nodded.

"They think I'm not hearing it, but," Naruto leaned towards him before whispering, "they call me a demon."

Yagura's eyes widen, which made Naruto's stomach tangle in knots, all of a sudden worried that maybe he'd said too much and his newfound friend wouldn't want to be with him Yagura just turned and smiled at him. "Cool."

Who would have thought he would've gotten so lucky to stumble upon the jinchuuriki of Konoha? This situation was even better than what he could've hoped.

All Yagura had to do now was seal the deal, he didn't know what beast was sealed into Naruto, but he knew that Konoha would have kept a strong one for themselves.

"I need to go home soon," Yagura said, letting a frown touch his face before holding out a hand to Naruto. "Do you want to come and visit my home?"

Naruto grabbed without hesitation.

* * *

"Hokage-sama, you called for me."

"Yes, this is about Naruto," Sarutobi looked up, from the papers, setting them aside with a shaky hand. For a moment, he almost saw Sakumo. He was getting old.

Kakashi's single eye didn't show any signs of change in emotion, but there was a stiffness in his shoulders that Sarutobi had come to spot. "Has something happened to Minato's son?"

"He has been kidnapped by the Mizukage," there was no shortage of pain that came with those words. How had Yagura managed such coercion? Did Naruto even require coercion?

"And the ANBU just let it happen?" Kakashi still sounded disinterested, tone bland and ever so contradictory to his tense posture.

"I guess no one expected something like that to happen, no one was supposed to know who Naruto really was," Sarutobi said, all of a sudden feeling the wear in his bones and the heaviness of the Hokage hat weighing on him. "I'm guessing Kiri didn't know until arriving in the village."

"So we're going to get him back?"

"It isn't that easy," Sarutobi pressed his pipe into his mouth, taking a sharp inhale and feeling the smoke infuse his lungs, filling them to their full capacity. "Kiri hasn't done anything wrong. Several witnesses confirmed that Naruto bumped into the Mizukage and that he went out of his own will. Besides, it's only against our treaties to recruit ninja from other villages, Naruto was not a ninja, only an academy student."

"If we do anything against them we might be seen as warmongers. Iwa and Kumo would rather that Kiri get another Jinchuuriki than let us keep ours," Kakashi finished. He was always a bright one, that boy, quick on his feet and though somewhat tactless, knowledgeable in politics.

"There is something we can do, but we need to act carefully. But we've more important issues at hand, our alliance with Suna is weak, and we need to strengthen it before it comes out that Kiri has the Kyuubi," Suna admired strength. No, feared it. Whilst Konoha never dealt well with fear, it would be a currency that Suna understands. "It will look better if we send a strong ninja, so you should go."

At that, Kakashi smiled, the fabric of his mask crinkling just a little. Sarutobi didn't have to look too carefully to know that it was wry. "There's a reason I didn't specialize in negotiation"

"I'll direct you to some chuunin that will draw up a good deal," Sarutobi said, understanding. "The important thing is that they'll see an increased value in our alliance and to redirect some of the missions that has come our way lately seeing as they've been struggling."

"Don't you have anyone else to send?" Kakashi sounded about as tired as he felt. Suna's younger generation was tolerable, at most. But they held grudges, and Sakumo had quite the reputation there.

"I could assign you a genin team straight away instead, but I'd rather have you train Sasuke and Naruto when the time is right," Sarutobi said. As uncomfortable as it was to force Kakashi into this expedition, it was _necessary_. That, and he doubted Danzo's methods would be preferable. "You need to get into shape again, get some contact with people and see the sun. I can't send you to Kiri the way you are now."

"You give this old man no choice," Kakashi muttered on the way out.

_You have no idea._

Sarutobi closed his eyes and let himself sigh once he was alone again.

* * *

"Do you know why I called you here today, Danzo?"

Danzo looked at him through slitted eyes. With age, the sharpness of his face rounded and he didn't appear anywhere near as threatening, as cold and calculating, as he once did. But Sarutobi knew better than to believe in the facade. "This is about the Jinchuuriki right?"

"No, I'm going to ask you a question and I want you to give me a completely honest answer," Sarutobi hated to do this, hated the conflict, hated his hands dirtied like this. "Have you been mind-controlling the Mizuage for the last few years?"

"What are you talking about?" the surprise in Danzo's eye appeared genuine.

"The Mizukage was here earlier today, as you might know," Sarutobi said, feeling his stomach sink. He didn't want Danzo to be lying, but if he was, it would simplify the situation somewhat. "He accused the Uchiha of controlling him."

Danzo's face returned to its neutral state. "And you believed him?"

"He seemed to have no knowledge that the clan has been killed, and was quite shocked by the news." It was a roundabout response, neither denying nor confirming.

"Are you sure he's not just uninformed and ignorant?"

"He could be, if it wasn't for evidence for the contrary. Look at this," Sarutobi handed over a scroll. In spite of it all, he still had faith in Danzo.

"It's a condolence letter from the Mizukage," Danzo glanced at it and then dismissed it. Showing how little he cared for what the Mizukage had to say.

"Look at the date," Hiruzen urged his old teammate, gesturing at the scroll.

Danzo looked at the date, then back at the Hokage. "What about it?"

"There is no way he could have known about the massacre that fast.'' Hiruzen answered, tapping his desk with his index finger. ''The only way that could have been done is if the person controlling him knew about the massacre and made him send it too early."

"And the only one knowing beforehand was you and Itachi.'' Hiruzen leaned forward, adopting a serious look. ''Speaking of which… show me your other eye."

Danzo's one visible eye widened for a second in surprise before he recovered his posture."I see no reason to do that."

Hiruzen remained serious, the tension in the room rose. "It's an order."

Danzo met Hiruzen's stare, but conceded and reluctantly started to uncover his eye. When the bandages came undone, a familiar crimson eye revealed itself.

"Shisui's eye," Sarutobi stated, recognizing that one particular eye. "I was wondering where those ended up."

The tension in the room was heavier than ever.

"I did not use it on the Mizukage." Danzo defended himself and Hiruzen nodded.

"I know.'' He spoke, surprising Danzo once more. It doesn't do what the Mizukage experienced I also hope that in such a circumstance you'd use for something more profitable, rather than just sabotaging Kirigakure."

"It is good that you see sense here." Danzo relaxed somewhat, closing the eye.

"And where is the other one?" Hiruzen looked at his table.

"Shisui got away. Somebody had already taken his other eye when we found him."

"Someone…'' he stopped to think for a few seconds,''Itachi perhaps?"

"Most likely, they were very close. If he were to entrust it to anyone, it would be Itachi.

"Remove it." He became serious once more and Danzo sighed.

"Is that really necessary."

"If other villages even suspect us to hold such powers we will be destroyed. I want to only see one eye in your skull next time we meet. But be sure to keep it safe in case we need it."

"No. Hiruzen, we need this eye. We just lost our bijuu, what are we supposed to do when it gets used against us? Subdue it with paperwork? We need to keep what little advantages we still have.''

"Naruto isn't a threat to us right now, it will take years before Yagura can use it against us. When there is someone to put the blame on, hopefully soon, you can implant the eye again."

Hiruzen looked at the clock, it was getting late.

"Send your best team of Root-nin to assassinate Itachi, while no one reasonable would think he's a spy, there is enough unreasonable ninja who could make that accusation. We can't give any village a reason to believe we kept him alive, and make sure to patrol the border areas so he can't access Kiri while you're hunting him down. Just don't let the Mizukage think we plan on attacking him, he seems quite short tempered."

"I'll send them out tonight."

* * *

Naruto was shivering, he didn't expect it to be this cold, even on a boat.

"Sorry, I just needed to talk to dad," Yagura said behind him with a blanket rolled under his arm.

In reality Yagura needed to answer for why he brought with him Naruto

It would be no good if someone addressed him as Mizukage-sama while Naruto thought he was a genin. Revealing that he was a jounin might not be that much of a _betrayal_ , but there was no reason to prove Naruto wrong. He just needed to find him a Jounin-sensei, the sooner Naruto became genin of Kirigakure and made bonds to the village and not just him, the better.

"Here," Yagura unrolled the blanket and covered both of them. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, just a bit cold," Naruto responded, snuggling into the blanket and him.

A few seconds passed and they were left in a somewhat uncomfortable silence. They both felt tired, but neither could sleep.

"You know, I've a demon inside me too." Yagura tried to continue a conversation.

"Too?" Naruto asked, blinking a couple of times.

"Yeah, that's why people call you a demon, they think you're the beast that is sealed inside you." Yagura explained, sitting upwards and taking off his shirt.

"I've a demon inside me?" Naruto asked and a series of scribbles appeared on Yagura's stomach.

"Yeah, we're called Jinchuuriki,. human sacrifice." He traced his finger on the seal.

Naruto shook his head." No that can't be! I heard that the fourth Hokage defeated the Kyuubi. You saying he just put it inside me?"

Yagura nodded and placed his shirt back on.

"Why?" Naruto asked, pulling his shirt up in curiosity.

"He must have done it to protect Konoha, and to keep you as a weapon.." Yagura placed his finger on Naruto's belly and a series of squabbles and letters appeared on him as well.

"Woah," Naruto pulled his skin, inspecting the seal, noticing that his was different to Yagura's. ''But, that means…''

"Yes, Kiri wanted to use me as a weapon, our village has had dark history, that's why I want to become Mizukage, to make everyone's life better and throw away our dark past." Yagura smiled at Naruto and retreated his hand, the seal disappearing.

"I just need to sleep, I don't want to think about it."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN:
> 
> Thanks to Jam for betaing this chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

_'_ _Time to do something,'_ Yagura thought, as he watched his people outside go about with their lives looking gloomy as usual. A lonely looking woman was begging for the food vendor to lower his prices, crying and desperate, speaking over and over about her children.

**"** **How can you think to save a village, if you cannot help one solitary person?"** Isobu advised him.

Yagura took a moment to think about the advice before he jumped out the window and down on the street. Without making too much of a fuss, he walked up to the stand and gave the woman quite a shock. She very nearly fainted when she saw her brutal leader handing the shopkeeper the money she needed.

"Do you need anything more?" Yagura asked and looked up at her.

The woman just shook her head and ran off with her goods, not even thanking him, but he guessed her fear overwrote her gratefulness. Hopefully, she would think better of it when she had time to calm down a bit.

**"** **It isn't always easy to do what's right when everyone sees you as someone you aren't, but you should still try,"** Isobu told him.

"You're right, of course. I suppose that I should check up on Naruto now, it wouldn't be good if he started to miss home due to my neglect," Yagura said and tried to cheer a bit up.

**"** **Bring some food with you."**

"Pardon?"

**"** **He's probably hungry after not having eaten since yesterday, and it helps him see you as a friend, you won't get his loyalty by acting like a superior, but rather as a friend."**

"I know how to make friends," Yagura mumbled, a tailed beast could be helpful at times, but also quite annoying at others.

Yagura had no idea where to get ramen; he wasn't as familiar with his own village as he wished he was. What he really needed was to change his priorities, what was the point of defending the village against outside threats and internal issues if he ignored the needs and activities of his people? Though he could get some other food, he had no idea what else the kid liked. Though that _did_ gave him an idea on how to keep Naruto occupied, for a little while at least.

-x-

"Come in," Naruto called from inside as Yagura knocked on his door.

Yagura walked into the small, one-room apartment that he had fixed for Naruto. It was simple, but Naruto seemed to have found himself a home here.

"I thought you might be hungry, so I brought some food with me," Yagura smiled as he handed Naruto a bowl of soup and some bread.

"I thought you might be trying to starve me to me to death," Naruto laughed, breathing in the steam. "Mmm, it smells good."

Naruto's reaction really made Yagura smile. It soon dissolved into a frown as Naruto emptied the bowl in a single gulp, his lack of table manners becoming apparent.

"I've a fun idea, why don't you look for a place to get ramen? If you can find one, I'll treat you to a bowl?" he suggested.

"Really?! I'm in," Naruto smiled and ate the bread as fast as possible, so that he could start exploring.

"Bye, but don't expect to wait too long," Naruto called as he ran out.

"I guess I need to get back to work," Yagura sighed as he watched Naruto run.

-x-

Yagura really didn't like these meetings, even if it was his own idea. He had thought it would be useful to have someone check on his decision-making in case anything went wrong, but it felt like the council took a bit much pleasure in their own expanded influence.

They weren't happy that he had brought someone from Konoha with him for seemingly no reason. He hadn't told them about Naruto's true nature, it would be best to keep it a secret until he had the situation entirely under control. He had already messed up his plan by revealing a softer side of himself before he went to Konoha.

It would be much easier to just rule as a ruthless dictator, there was no one who wanted their side to be heard and no one that pointed out errors in his thinking, but he couldn't revert this now, he had to live with his decision.

-x-

The rain poured down over Yagura and Naruto as they hurried under the roof of the ramen stand.

"It's a nice place you found," Yagura commented as he looked around the stall.

"Yeah, it was hard to find. There aren't many places like this here," Naruto replied.

"Our village is struggling, not many can afford to eat at places like this," Yagura said.

"It's nice here, no one looks at me as if I had killed their entire family," Yagura spoke and expected a chuckle from this, however, Naruto started to cry instead.

_'_ _A ninja should cry,'_ he had always been told, and had told others, but never told what to do if someone else cried in front of him. He didn't know what to do or say, and it showed

"It's okay," Naruto sniffed and took another mouthful of ramen, "it's just a bit saltier than usual, I don't mind."

Yagura was unsure if he should laugh at the joke, or just be there for Naruto.

"I don't want to go home, do I have to?" Naruto asked.

That was true, Naruto was just visiting him, it was he who had assumed that Naruto had _defected_ , he had never really asked Naruto about it.

"Why do you say that?" Yagura asked.

"I want to be a ninja, but I can't make a clone, I keep on failing and the graduation exam is soon. I'll never be a ninja, I'll never be Hokage," Naruto cried out.

"You know something? I don't know how to do a basic clone either," Yagura admitted. It was true, after the Isobu was sealed into him, there was too much Chakra in him for such a delicate task. "But those clones are useless, I _could_ teach you how to make a water clone if you wanted?"

"Really?" Naruto chimed out, "You're the best. When can we start?"

"After we've eaten if you want," Yagura said before he was assaulted by a hug from Naruto. The boy emptied the entire bole down his throat in an instant before he stood up and grinned at Yagura, ready to go.

-x-

"Why are we here?" Naruto asked as he looked out over the shore.

"Water Jutsu are much easier to do near water and in humid areas. They are harder in other places though, but you should be able to use them as long as you're not in a desert," Yagura explained.

"So how do I do it?"

"Be patient," Yagura said as he felt his eyes twitching at Naruto's impatience. "You need to learn the basics first. Stick your hands into the water and send chakra through it. At first, you'll only be able to move it slightly. But if you _just_ keep on practising, you will feel yourself gaining control over the water."

As Naruto put his hands into the cold water, Yagura started to create a bonfire beside them.

"What's that for?" Naruto asked as he looked at Yagura suspiciously.

"You're going to have your hands in cold water for hours, you need to keep yourself warm," Yagura said. He repressed the desire to call Naruto an idiot and filed the statement away to tease him with later.

"Oh, I didn't think about that, thank you." Naruto smiled as he turned to him.

Yagura smiled back before he turned his focus quickly back onto the file. "You just keep on working on your control."

-x-

Kakashi was tired; not just from dealing with Suna, but also because he had barely gotten any sleep after leaving their village. The worst part was that it was mostly his own fault.  
Now he just needed to get approval to go to Kiri and get Naruto back. He just needed to make sure he didn't keel over in front of Sarutobi.

"You're back, I see." the Hokage said as he looked up to a visibly exhausted Kakashi from his desk.

"Yes, Suna needed time to think about the deal. They'll come back to us when they've made a decision. Now, can I leave and get back Naruto?"

"How much sleep have you gotten over the last few days?" Sarutobi asked him with an accusatory tone.

"A few hours, I think. Ninja are supposed to be able to endure without it," Kakashi mumbled and threw his hand out as he almost lost his balance

"Get to bed, you're barely capable of standing up. How can you expect to be able to retrieve Naruto?"

Kakashi had no time to answer as he fell to the ground and lost consciousness, which gave Sarutobi no other choice than to signal to some nearby ANBU to carry him to a bed.

-x-

Kakashi's head hurt, his vision was blurred and he didn't know where he was. Had he been captured on his way back from Suna?

He saw something move into the room.

"I'm not saying anything," Kakashi mumbled, before he saw that the person in question wasn't an enemy ninja but his commander, the Hokage.

"I hope that you're better now?" Sarutobi asked.

"What happened to me?" Kakashi asked as he adjusted himself into a sitting position.

"You feel asleep during your mission report. Are you ready, or should I come back to you tomorrow?"

"No no, I'll have to get going as soon as I can. I can't give the Mist time to poison Naruto's mind. I was thinking, do you think I can promote him?"

"What do you mean?" Sarutobi questioned.

"If he's a genin, Yagura can't hold him there. That and it will be a nice gesture to make him feel more welcomed here."

"Not a bad idea, I'll approve of it. Anything more?"

"I want to tell him about his father, show him that he has a deep and profound connection to the village that he should be proud of," Kakashi argued.

"Hmm, it might be time, it's not like the secret is protecting him anymore. I'll approve it. However, just in case your plan fails, don't tell Naruto that Yagura is the Mizukage. The longer we wait, the more Naruto will feel betrayed by being tricked into thinking he was his friend, Yagura might be able to explain his way out of the mess now, but not if we delay it."

"I guess you won't let me go if I don't agree with it?"

"You prove yourself a prodigy once more, Kakashi," Sarutobi chuckled. "You know where to find the stuff you need. So leave when you're ready and try to not get yourself killed."

"Thank you, Hokage-Sama," Kakashi replied and bowed his head deeply as he started to leave

-x-

It had been some days since Naruto had started practising. Whenever Yagura was not too busy dealing with village business, he took time out to watch over his young friend.

"You're doing well Naruto," Yagura told him as he watched Naruto's handling of the water. What started as just small movements had now improved to a level where Naruto could lift smaller shapes out of the water and control them. "You should take a break now, I bought some food."

Naruto got away from the water and held his hands in front of the fire to warm it up.

"You know that you don't have to go back if you don't want to," Yagura told him as he handed Naruto grilled meat and vegetables pierced on a stick.

"Huh?" Naruto let out as he took a bite from the meat on the stick and avoided the vegetables.

"You could become a Kiri ninja if you wanted. I've talked to the Mizukage, and he told me that it's okay."

"Really?" Naruto exclaimed out of happiness. "I would really like that, you know. Do you think we can be teammates?"

"I'm glad to hear that! I'm afraid that it's unlikely that we'll be on the same team, but that's okay. We'll be friends, no matter what, right?" Yagura said, he had a job to do, he just needed to make sure Naruto got a team that would accept him.

-x-

Kakashi arrived at a small village not far away from Kirigakure and had settled himself at an inn. He was far too experienced to go into enemy territory in this kind of state. Besides, Sarutobi would kill him if he messed up simply because of a lack of sleep. It wasn't like Yagura was one night away from making Naruto loyal to him, as much as he wanted to grab Naruto and run back to Konoha, resting was a reasonable trade-off. If he didn't rest now, he wouldn't be able to run away should the need come.

-x-

"Yagura! Look, I did it," Naruto exclaimed and pointed to a watery version of Naruto that was stood in the turf.

Yagura looked at it and smiled. "Good work. Listen, I've got a surprise for you, close your eyes."

"Okay?" Naruto said, but quickly did as he was told. And as he stood there he felt something being tied around his head.. As Naruto felt that Yagura was stepping back, he opened his eyes again.

"Congratulations, you're a Genin now," Yagura spoke, and gave Naruto a pat on the shoulder.

Naruto stroked the forehead protector and felt the four waves in the Kiri symbol, before looking down into the water at his projection.

"I... I finally did it, I'm a ninja! And before that bastard, Sasuke, as well!" Naruto said and ran at Yagura to enfold him in another hug.

"So, do you want to celebrate with some ramen?" Yagura asked him and patted his head.

"Are kunai sharp?" Naruto answered as a joke. Of course he wanted ramen, no sane person would decline that! He started to run towards the stand that they had been eating at the day he had arrived in Kiri.

-x-

Kakashi glinted the sun outside his window, ' _Wake up Kakashi, you've a job to do_ ' he thought to himself as he grabbed his clothes and a clean mask. He had no time for a proper breakfast; a ration bar would have to do for now. He packed away his forehead protector; while it might cause him problems to enter a village without identifying himself as a Konoha ninja, he'd never get any information if he did identify himself as a Konoha ninja. He then and left the inn and made his way to the village.

-x-

He noticed that it wasn't all that hard to get to get into the village. He just needed to show a letter from Sarutobi that proved he was on a diplomatic mission. He would be watched every step of the way, no doubt, but they didn't seem to mind his entry.

-x-

After having both asked and looked around the village for some time, he noticed the smell of ramen and quickly found its source. To his immense luck, a yellow-haired boy was sitting there. There could be no doubt: it was Naruto. He walked slowly towards the stand so as to not frighten him.

"One miso ramen please," Kakashi asked the person manning the stand.

"A moment and it should be ready sir," they answered.

"Hi Naruto," He said and turned towards his target.

Naruto turned his head towards him and asked, "Do I know you?"

"I'm Hatake Kakashi, I was sent by the Hokage to get you back to Konoha."

"I don't want to go back, I'm fine here," Naruto answered and shifted around on his stool.

"I've got a gift for you from Sarutobi," Kakashi pleaded.

"What's that?" Naruto said, looking quite confused.

Kakashi grabbed a Konoha forehead protector from his pockets and presented in front of Naruto.

"I'm already a ninja," Naruto stated bluntly and pointed to his forehead.

' _How could I not notice that?_ ' Kakashi asked himself. Was this a genjutsu, or was the fact too unreal for him to accept it on the first glance? But he couldn't deny it, Naruto was a Kiri-nin now. He didn't care; international treaties be damned, he was going to get Naruto back.

"I got promoted last night, I managed to do a water clone, so Yagura promoted me."

' _That bastard_ ', Kakashi thought to himself, he should never have delayed this. If he hadn't needed to go to Suna, this would never have happened.

"You don't find it strange that it was him and not the Mizukage promoting you?" Kakashi asked as he rose an eyebrow.

"Yagura told me that he talked to the Mizukage about it, he's-" Naruto stopped mid-sentence; he had nearly revealed that Yagura was a Jinchuuriki, but had managed to stop himself in time. He wasn't supposed to tell people that, Yagura would be _so_ angry with him. "He's close to the Mizukage," he said instead.

As much as Kakashi wanted to tell Naruto straight away that Yagura was the Mizukage, he thought it best to stick to the plan. It had come from the Hokage, after all.

"You know, I knew your parents," Kakashi said with a careless tone.

"Really? Then why didn't you say this before? Who were they? Were they great ninja?"

"Your father was my sensei, and a great ninja indeed and your mother was the scariest woman I've seen, but more full of love for her family than most I have ever known," Kakashi explained.

"Really?" Naruto blurted out in disbelief, shocked by the revelations.

Kakashi nodded in return.

"What were their names?"

"Uzumaki Kushina was your mother, and Nazikaze Minato, also known as the fourth Hokage, was your father."

"Lord Fourth was my father?" Naruto asked as his whole body froze.

"Yes, he would be proud of you, you know?"

The cogs moved behind Naruto's eyes. The Fourth had sealed the Nine-Tailed Beast into him. The Fourth had chosen to make a weapon of him.

"Then, all of this is my father's fault?" Naruto asked, anger rising in his voice. To be told that it was not just the Fourth, but his father, who had chosen to do this. "It's my dad's fault that no-one would ever be my friend? It was my dad's fault that everyone looked at me like… like dog crap? Just because he wanted to turn me into a weapon?"

Kakashi had begun to panic; this wasn't how this was supposed to go! "Naruto, it's not like that at all," Kakashi pleaded as he reached out to Naruto.

But Naruto had frozen completely. His eyes had turned red and the pupils had become slit like those of a fox.

"Naruto, snap out of it! Your parents loved you more than anything," Kakashi yelled in desperation.

Naruto didn't respond - _couldn't_ respond, a red cloud of chakra began to form around Naruto. If he heard anything that Kakashi had said then he didn't believe him.

"Naruto, stop!," Kakashi cried out as he tried to grab Naruto, only for his hands to be forced away by the burning shroud that surrounded Naruto.

Naruto let out a roar, or perhaps a scream, that was so loud that people fled from the street. Kakashi could see two tails raging, flowing like rivers of fire behind Naruto.

' _What do I do? What can I do?_ ' Kakashi asked himself. This wasn't supposed to happen at all, and least of all happen here. He by no means liked the Mist, but he had no desire for innocent blood on his hands.

Neither he nor Sarutobi was prepared for this situation. When they had talked about him taking Naruto as a student, the plan was to wait until something happened with Kyuubi before making a proper plan. That turned out to be a bad idea. They had expected something smaller the first time, not this.

Naruto charged at Kakashi without warning at Kakashi and tried to strike his chakra claws towards him, which Kakashi dodged in the last moment.

"Wake up Naruto! Don't give in," Kakashi shouted.

Naruto just growled back and made a new charge towards Kakashi. The older ninja saw now that he had no choice other than to fight back, and kicked Naruto back with all of his strength. There was no point holding back now.

If only there was a way to knock him out without harming him. It was the only way he could think of to stop this. Kakashi could only hope, if he was wrong then he was harming the boy for no reason.

He gave Naruto almost no time to land before he threw himself at the boy and kicked him down into the side of a house.

Kakashi waited for Naruto to get up again before he decided his next move, it didn't take long for Naruto to get up, but instead of charging at Kakashi again, he ran away and further into the village.

"Damn. Sarutobi will want my head for this," Kakashi muttered and ran after Naruto.

However, Naruto wasn't so easy to catch. It had been that way even before in the Leaf, and it was even harder now, in unknown territory and it didn't take long before Kakashi lost the sight of him.

As Kakashi checked around for Naruto, following a sound that he had heard in the distance. Out of the blue, something hard struck him a blow to the stomach and he was thrown back by the impact.

"What are you doing here, Konoha scum!?" The Mizukage yelled at him.

Kakashi looked over the man who would be Mizukage and assessed his options. With the way that the man was talking, there would be no talking this out diplomatically.

"I'm here to get Naruto back after you kidnapped him," Kakashi grunted and lifted up his headband to uncover Obito's Sharingan.

"Uchiha," Yagura spat out in spite, "The Hokage assured me that the only Uchiha left was a 12-year-old boy, and yet here you are."

"I'm no Uchiha. I'm Kakashi, the Scarecrow, and I'm here to take Naruto home," Kakashi replied in kind.

"Naruto went with me of his own free will!" Yagura yelled back.

"Only after you poisoned his mind and told him that the Fourth Hokage only wanted to make him into a weapon," Kakashi spoke in reply, his voice laced with venom.

"You really think isn't the truth? We Jinchuuriki were made for just one purpose: to be weapons. Don't think for a second that I'd let Naruto go back to that fate. He's one of my ninja now, and I won't let you take him so he can be a tool for Konoha. Leave while you still can, old man," Yagura told him as he bares his teeth at the enemy.

"You have really got things wrong here. None of this matters; I won't leave this village without him. And aren't you older than me?" Kakashi teased.

"I don't care, you die right here!" Yagura yelled out, and with a strike of his hooked staff, a water dragon spew forward towards and forced Kakashi back.

Kakashi knew he was outclassed, he couldn't win against someone who was both a Jinchuuriki and a Kage. Even now, said Kage was sending high-level water Jutsu towards him as if they were nought but simple kunai.

The barrage didn't stop until Yagura had pushed Kakashi and himself well away from people and near the shore. Kakashi was quite surprised to see the level of control that Yagura had. Despite how powerful the Jutsu was, it hadn't caused any damage to any of the village, just made the streets a bit wet. Kirigakure was clearly built to stand both flooding and allied ninja defending the area. The only damage that he could notice, looked like it was from Naruto charging through the area.

"Why stop here? Run out of chakra already? I'd make it about your size, but I don't go for the low-hanging fruit. Got to leave that for little people," Kakashi taunted the Mizukage, forgetting for a precious moment exactly where he was standing.

It wasn't before he saw Yagura's dark little smile and a large shadow over him that he knew it was over. All he could do now was to hope that Yagura would value diplomatic relations over his ego and not kill him.

-x-

After having dealt with the intruder, Yagura went to look at Naruto. Hopefully, his black-ops would have managed to capture Naruto and get him under control. Despite the fact that he had had control over the Three-Tails for a long time, the village was always prepared for a situation where he would lose control. Call it unnecessary, but it had all paid off now.

He went into the room where Naruto was staying and saw that the kid was sleeping, but not injured. A Bijuu's pure chakra tended to have negative effects on its vessel if one didn't have any control, but Naruto was either lucky or it had already healed.

"Mizukage-Sama, the council has called for a meeting," one of his ANBU said.

"I told you to not call me that near him," Yagura snapped at the ANBU operative, annoyed at his carelessness.

"I'm sorry, but he was sleeping so I figured-" the ANBU stuttered as he tried to defend his actions.

"Just do as you're told next time. I don't want him to find out by an accident. In any case, I'm coming, it's better to get this over with as soon as possible."

-x-

Yagura would rather fight a dozen Konoha-nin than have to deal this.

"What were you thinking about, letting a untamed Jinchuuriki into the village? We're lucky it didn't cause even more damage," one clan leader shouted out. Yagura didn't care too much about them, they were all power hungry people who cared only about their own clan.

"I think we should give Mizukage-sama a chance here, the Nine-Tailed Beast would definitely be a solid resource for the village, maybe then we wouldn't need to reunite with the traitors," another one of them added to the discussion.

What fools these clan heads were; he wasn't trying to make peace with the rebels because they were losing the war, but because it was the right thing to do. He had, no, the unknown Uchiha had caused the village much harm. He couldn't fault them for wanting to rid the village of the evil he once was. If he couldn't rectify his mistake of giving these idiotic people power, then it wouldn't matter if someone were to control him again, the village was already doomed. It was an ironic situation, the only ones able to help him fix this mess was his enemies. He still had the power to sign peace deals without the consent of the council, and with that single loophole, he could take away all their power over him.

But first, he needed to show Mei and the ninja loyal to her that they could trust him and that he was a capable leader. Naruto was coincidentally one step towards that ideal. Even though he had originally been handed the responsibility of a village in decline, he was now better placed to begin negotiations. If he could present the case as him wanting peace for the sake of peace, and not because he was losing, it would be easier to talk with them.

"Are you listening Mizukage-sama?" One of the councilmen shouted as if his attention had been called for several times.

"Can you please repeat yourself?" Yagura asked. He was frankly too bored and had more important things to consider than their usual drivel.

"Naruto already believes that you are a Genin, correct?" One councilman asked him.

"Yes, as I've told you so countless times," Yagura replied in a bored tone, making it clear to the people around him that they should hurry up and get over with it.

"And you just promoted him, but he's yet to be assigned a team. So I was thinking, what if you continued to play your little game with him, and acted as his teammate," the man suggested with a smirk.

The other council members nodded in agreement.

' _What, is this an attempt to remove me from power?_ ' Yagura asked himself. These people had been loyal to him during his time under control, what had changed now? But the realisation dawned on Yagura, they were loyal to the brutal dictator he once was. But now that he was becoming softer and tried to solve the civil war through diplomacy, they wanted to get rid of him.

Yagura knew it was a risky move but decided to do it anyway.

"Are you trying to take my seat as Mizukage?" Yagura accused the man.

"Of course not my Lord," the man answered back in a hurry, giving the look of a man who knew that he had stepped too far.

Yagura smiled his dark little smile, ' _I'll play their little game if they think they got me the better. Now I have an excuse to get away from the village and do what I need to play my own game.'_ It was time to pay many of the village's missing-nin a visit. If everything went to hell, he could join the rebels and retake the village with them.

"I agree, I'll still be in charge but I'll make sure the village can be led as usual while I'm gone on missions. Give me a month and I should have made the preparations I need for this to work out. I'll issue an order banning any Konoha-nin into the village, so whatever they did to cause Naruto to react this way can never happen again," Yagura said.

-x-

After the successful or perhaps unsuccessful meeting, depending on how one judged it. Yagura retreated to his office and drew out a letter to a certain Terumi Mei, he had hoped to keep some pride, but his pride was less important than the village. She was his only hope now.

-x-

The next morning a tired Yagura went to meet up with Naruto, he wanted to make sure that no other foolish Konoha-nin had tried to get to him again. He shouldn't have stayed up so late writing and rewriting letters. 'Work smarter, not harder,' was something that he had forgotten in his tired state. Besides, doing any kind of intellectual work was not the kind of thing you did when your bed called for you.

"Hello Yagura. Is everything okay? You don't look so good," Naruto asked him.

"I just went to bed a bit late," Yagura answered truthfully. "The Mizukage summoned me yesterday and he had good news for us. We're going to be teammates."

"What changed? I mean, didn't you say this wouldn't happen? Not that I'm complaining or anything, this is great!" Naruto added with a cheer.

His outburst made Yagura smile. "People are a bit worried about you, after what happened yesterday with the Kyuubi. So since you know me, and we both shared the same fate, he figured that this was for the best."

Naruto looked down at the ground, his eyes hidden by the shadow of regret.

"Oh, don't take it that way! It's only some stupid old men that think that I'll protect you from any danger. Don't worry, you're my first real friend after all," Yagura admitted.

"Wait, didn't you say you had lots of friends, and that they were just out on a mission?"

"I was lying to you, I'm sorry. But, I didn't really have any friends. I just didn't want to admit that okay? It's embarrassing," Yagura told him with a blush.

"Don't worry, you're my first friend too," Naruto told him with a smile.

"This came a bit unexpected, so we don't have a full team yet," Yagura said.

He just hoped Mei would send someone to spy on him, someone that could fill the third slot. He didn't know who else to trust and he didn't want anyone to blabber and call him out as the Mizukage, either intentionally or by accident.

"But I'll make sure we get a great team, so there;s nothing to worry about. Promise me not to tell anyone, but I'll be gone a few days on a mission. Don't go doing anything stupid while I'm gone."

"Don't worry about me. I'll practice more on what you showed me, I'll make water dragons like you in no time, believe it!" Naruto exclaimed, giving his chest a thump in a show of solidarity.

"Goodbye then," Yagura said, giving Naruto a quick wave goodbye, before he rushed off to begin his own personal mission.

-x-

Yagura stood in front of his mirror while he applied a small amount of makeup to cover up his distinctive scar. His eyes would be a giveaway as well and he had a pair of lenses that would make them appear black, which he put in now.

Once he was happy with how he looked, he searched through his wardrobe for some more discrete clothes. After getting dressed and making sure the letters was safely fastened to his body, he put on his cloak and began to sneak out into the woods around the village and towards the rebel camp.

-x-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Thanks to Ignisetigris for betaing this chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3

A heavy mist formed in front of Damasa and Hanko as they patrolled their base.

Damasa stopped suddenly, his eyes scouring the woodland. "Did you hear that?" He whispered to his companion.

Fast steps came from the mist straight at them, accompanied by the sound of heavy breathing.

“Be ready but don’t strike, it sounds like a child.” He added, settling into a ready stance

The steps came closer until they could make out a small figure stepping out of the mist.

It was a hooded boy, his eyes filled with tears. "Please, help me," he implored. "They're going to kill me. Please don't let them kill me."

"It's okay, what's your name kid?" Hanko asked.

"My mom told me not to give my name to strangers," The boy told them, his body shaking with fear.

"It's okay, you're safe with us," Hanko told the boy. He moved his hand to push down the hood, but the boy resisted and just pulled the hood further down.

"Hanko, bring the boy to the camp and warn them against a potential attack. I'll keep watch and make sure no one chase you down," Damasa said.

Hanko nodded and turned to the boy, "Is that okay with you?"

"I just want my mommy," the boy said. They could hear that he had stopped crying and sighed with relief to have calmed him down a bit. The boy held out his hand towards Hanko, who took it gently as he was able and led him deeper into the forest, leaving Damasa alone to the potential danger in the mist.

-x-

The boy didn't seem like a ninja to Hanko, but he noticed it wasn't hard for him to keep the pace with a little encouragement. He was too used to the children around him being a ninja, but not everyone fleeing from Mist wanted their children to take part in such life. He could respect that, it wasn't safe fighting against the village. It had been calm the last weeks, but now it seemed like there was another attack, this time a bit close to comfort.

It was easy to see that the boy wasn’t a ninja, but despite that, he had no problem keeping up the pace, as long as he got a push now and then. He wasn’t used to civilian kids, but he could respect that not everyone wanted their children to partake in fighting the Bloody Mist. They fled the village to give their children a safer life and making them ninja would defeat that purpose. 

The last weeks had been calm, but now there was another attack a bit too close to comfort.

As the two entered the camp he let go of the boy's hand.

"Do you think you can find your mother on your own? I need to warn people about this." Hanko asked the boy.

"Thanks, sir." the boy muttered from beneath his hood.

"Just call me Hanko," the man smiled at the boy, despite the fact that the boy couldn’t see it under the hood. 

"Thanks, Hanko," the boy said and ran towards one of the tents.

Hanko quickly got the attention of the ninja stationed in the camp and hurried out to push back the attack. They couldn’t let their location be exposed or it was over for them.

-x-

“Mei, I have a letter for you. From Yagura,” Ao spoke, his voice grave.

“Give it to me,” Mei grabbed it from Ao’s hand and started to read.

“What does the letter say, my lady? Is Yagura making some ridiculous demand? Or perhaps he wishes to surrender?” Ao asked, allowing himself the luxury of a smile

“Not exactly, but if what he’s saying is true, this is very good news. He tells me that he’s been controlled by an unknown Uchiha, but if you ask me, this is a weak attempt of a lie,” Mei spoke, her fingers rose to cover her mouth as her eyes followed the words down the page.

"I was once subjected to the powers of an Uchiha. Such would not be beyond their power," Ao recalled with a voice full of bitterness. 

“Your silence would be appreciated, Ao. I’m reading,” Mei told him with a clipped tone.

His silence assured, Mei leant back in her chair and read deeper through the letter.

“He’s starting reforming the laws, abolishing the caste system and making sure that bloodline users are safe from prosecution,” Mei read aloud. A tone of wonder crept into her voice and an incredulous look settled on her face.

“Is that just talk or is he really doing it?” Ao questioned. A frown adorned his face as well and he longed to read the message himself.

"I told you to shut up! But we have a chance to get more intel, as part of the peace process, he’s inviting lower ranked ninja back into the village with full amnesty” Mei told him, a gleam in her eye.

“Do you have anyone in mind that could be the right one?

‘Do you have anyone? The right one?’ All Mei could hear was him talking about her finding herself a man.

“Shut up,” she growled. “Or I’ll kill you.”

"There is something I want to know Ao, where did you get this from?" Mei asked. She placed the letter gently on the table and turned to him.

"What do you mean, my lady?" Ao answered.

"Who delivered this to you? We don't have any communication channels to the village," she elaborated.

"A young boy handed it to me, I don't know who it was; he was wearing a hood and refused to give his name," Ao Explained.

"Bring me some sake, I need to drink," Mei told him, the arms of her chair cracking under her tightened grip.

"My lady?" Ao questioned.

"It was Yagura, you idiot!” Mei roared.” How did he find out this easily? Why didn’t the patrols stop him, and are there actually any traps around here?"

Ao brought Mei a bottle of sake and was about to pour it into her glass when she grabbed the bottle and chugged down.

"Bring people back, there is no attack,” Mei order Ao, emptying the sake down her throat. “And bring me another of those,” she added, half tempted to throw the bottle at the head of her right-hand -man.

"Mei-sama, there is something you have to see," one of her Ninja interrupted her. After what had happened tonight, there was really no time to lose, her sake could wait.

Outside she saw something burning on the ground, on a closer inspection, she noticed that it was Yagura's clothes.

"What do you make of it?" Ao asked.

"There’s no explanation I can think of, Ao. Either he’s has gone completely insane and is running around in the forest naked, or..." She sighed.

"And our next move?" Ao asked further.

"For now, we'll work with what Yagura has given us. I'll send Chojuro to the Mist, the boy is honest to a fault. We will make a decision based on his observations," Mei explained

Ao gave a bow and returned to the tent with her command. As he left, Mei turned and watched the ashes float away on the wind.

‘Is this a sign?’ She wondered to herself. ‘“I have shed my old skin.” Is that what you’re trying to tell me, Yagura?’

‘No matter what your intentions are, you’ve made us look like fresh Genin tonight. But if you want to talk, I see no reason to refuse. You’ve already proven that you could easily crush our resistance. Can there be a peaceful resolution for all of us?’

-x-

“Chōjūrō, come here,” Mei ordered.

“Mei-sama, have I done anything wrong?” Chojuro spoke, having dashed into the room.

“Of course not, I have an important job for you,” Mei said with a calm smile.

“My lady? Are you sure?” Chojuro spoke, worry creeping into every word. “I’m not sure I’d be the best person.

“You need to believe in yourself more. You’re just going back to Kirigakure to observe if Yagura is serious about changing the village,” Mei told him with a gentle tone.

Chojuro could not face her confident smile and looked away. “My lady, I..”

“Don’t be afraid, if he tries to do anything to you I’ll come to Kiri and crush his skull. Besides, it would make me oh so happy if you did this for me," Mei said to him with a gentle caress.

“I’ll do it, I’ll make you proud,” Chojuro replied, a confidence filling his voice out of nowhere.

Mei smiled into her Sake. Boys could be so easy to work with at times.

-x-

Iruka was engrossed with the marking when there came a knock at his door.

"Come in," Iruka said while keeping his eyes on the work. "Hmm, Shikamaru's tests, I'll just mark it one hundred per cent, no need to actually check it," he mumbled to himself. His eyes were glued so thoroughly to his work that he very nearly jumped right out of his seat when he heard the Hokage’s voice.

“I hope you aren’t thinking of falsifying results, young man,” he spoke, no humour in his voice.

"Oh no, Hokage-sama, I was just joking with myself," Iruka told him with a nervous laugh. He stood up and gave his master the customary salute.

"I should hope not, these children are the Leaf’s future Iruka,” Sarutobi spoke, before shaking his head and moving to stand by Iruka’s fireplace. “I’m not here to control your work Iruka, require a favour from you.”

"Anything for you, Hokage-sama," Iruka replied.

"I want you to teach your students about the history of the Hidden Mist, focusing on its brutal past. Nothing need be said about the current Kage, of course,” Sarutobi explained. 

"I'm sorry Hokage-sama, but the lesson plan is already full. The children will only listen to so much,” Iruka replied. 

"I'm sure you can squeeze it in somehow." 

"We're already pressing too much, I'm really sorry," Iruka replied. He found himself rubbing his hands together as a cold chill entered the room.

"Tell me Iruka, for how long have you been a teacher?” Sarutobi asked, turning his head gently to look at Iruka.

“Are you going to fire me?” Iruka exclaimed.

“Oh, I’d never fire you, Iruka, but perhaps a short… Holiday is in order. You’re clearly stressed. In the meantime, I’ll find someone who’s more open to the idea,” Sarutobi said.

“I’ll fit it in, but I don’t know much about it myself. If you can help me out and get me an overview of the subject," Iruka sighed. “I’ll sort something out.”

"I'll be happy to help out, I'll have a someone deliver something on your desk till tomorrow," Sarutobi said.

"Is this about Naruto?" Iruka asked, breathing out. 

"You could say that, yes," the Hokage answered. "I don't know if the Mizukage will go after more of our ninja, I'm most worried about Sasuke and Hinata since they are the most susceptible. Make sure they keep close attention at least. But who knows how many of the Kunoichi he might be able to charm."

"I don't think you'll need to worry about them, they're much too interested in Sasuke to go after someone much older."

"Let's just hope you're right," Sarutobi mumbled and left Iruka's office.

-x-

"All right class, we've had much about Konoha's history, so today's class will be about the Hidden Mist Village," Iruka greeted.

Naturally, his students groaned in response, he had hoped that they might be somewhat interested in the other villages, but he was too optimistic.

When the class finally finished, he was relieved, hopefully, this was enough for the Hokage. He could see that the students were shaken by what they heard. The contrast to their own village and Mist’s gruesome graduation requirements was too great, even if it was a thing of the past. Though he wondered why the Hokage had forbidden him to talk about Mizukage, it didn't bother him too much. Sarutobi might just have some old grudge with him from the war.

-x-

"Sakura, can I talk to you a bit?" Shikamaru asked Sakura after the class.

"Sure, no problem I've nothing to do anyway," she answered.

"Was it just me, or did Iruka feel quite strange today?" Shikamaru asked.

"Hmm, yeah, it was strange, almost like he didn't want to teach us about this at all. We don't have any about the other villages. Why are you asking me about this? I'm sure you've it all figured it out already."

"I wasn't sure if I just over-analyzed things. You seem to have a good head, I'll trust your judgement."

"Oh, thanks," Sakura blushed.

"Do you have any idea why he focused so much on Hinata and Sasuke, he didn't care about the rest of us, but as soon as one of them stopped paying attention for a moment, he was straight at them."

"Of course he'd notice Sasuke-kun, but why Hinata. And where is Naruto gone?"

"Do you think this is connected, and that Hinata or Sasuke might disappear too?" Shikamaru asked.

"It's strange, but maybe. As much as Naruto bragged about becoming Hokage, it's strange if he just quit. But now we have to focus on trying to graduate, I don't want to be held back while Sasuke-kun becomes a ninja. See you later, I promised to help mom with something, so I can't let her wait anymore."

-x-

Chōjūrō was waiting nervously, today was the day he'd return to the Mist village. He was just a little child when his parents left the village. Mei had offered to help him pack while he was sorting out his nerves.

She had gone over the plans for where and how they'd meet, and she's promised him to check up on him as often as possible, but it didn't help still the fear that Yagura would slice him in two as soon as he entered the village. But he would be strong for Mei, she'd been quite supportive of him after his parents died.

"Are you ready Chōjūrō-kun?" Mei asked him.

"Yeah, just a bit nervous," Chōjūrō answered.

"You'll be fine, and remember that this could end the war. just make sure to gather as much information as you can. You should write a diary to keep track, it to be read, so be careful about what you write. Anything else, you need to remember on your own. Don’t try to write code, they’ll crack it and then you."

"But what if I forget something?" Chōjūrō mumbled.

"That's why I'm going to visit you as often as I can, we talked over this, it's nothing to be afraid about," Mei smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek. 

-x-

Chōjūrō was standing in the large open office of the Mizukage. ANBU had apprehended him quickly after getting near the village, after explaining himself, he was brought here to wait. The Mizukage had yet to arrive, and two ANBU was watching over him like hawks.

When he saw a young child enter the room he took the courage to him.

"Excuse me, but have you seen the Mizukage, I've been waiting forever now," Chōjūrō muttered.

"I'm the Mizukage, and you are?" Yagura said and signalled to the ANBU that they should leave them completely alone.

"I'm sorry, I'm Chōjūrō, Mizukage-sama," he bowed down in front of him and tears falling down his chin. It didn't make him less nervous that he had messed up already now.

"I'm glad to see you Chōjūrō-kun," the Mizukage smiled, though it was hard to read the expression. It was a mix of happiness and something a more sinister, if only slightly. "How good are you at keeping secrets?"

"Ehh, what do you mean Mizukage-sama?" Chōjūrō stuttered.

"Call me Yagura, please. I need your help, our village is in grave danger. You can't know the details, but simply put, we're going to be teammates. But do not disclose who I am. I need people to think I'm a Genin, not many know who I am, and keeping it that way makes it much easier to act as needed. A genin can walk much more freely around than a Kage, and your last teammate cannot under any circumstance know who I am? Do you think you can do that?"

He had overheard Mei talking about Yagura going mad, was this it? But no, he had no other choice than play along with his crazy ideas.

"I can do it, I won't disappoint you," or rather, he wouldn't disappoint Mei and he didn't want Yagura to kill him.

"Good, you're free to do as you want until I need you. See this as a chance to prove your loyalty."

-x-

Sarutobi was held up with his usual paperwork as a Chuunin brought in a big wooden crate into his office.

"What is that?" he asked the ninja.

"I don't know, it says it's a dog on the package and apparently it is from the Mist, but it has been quite silent, let’s hope it's not dead. I didn't know you liked dogs Hokage-sama."

"Thank you, you can leave now," the Hokage answered.

As the ANBU left, Sarutobi picked a kunai from his pouch and pried the crate open. Looking down at the miserable shape of Kakashi, tied up and gagged by his own mask. "Did you have a nice trip?" Sarutobi asked.

Kakashi couldn't do anything that mumbled something inaudible.

"Oh, I'm sorry, let me help you with that."

When Kakashi got his mouth free, he finally was able to talk. "It's not funny,"

"What did you do to make them send you back in that state?" Sarutobi said and looked down at Kakashi.

"I did what I had to do," Kakashi answered.

"Whatever you did clearly didn't work. I was about to get someone to chisel your name into the stone, what did you do?"

"I found Naruto, but he lost control while I was talking to him," Kakashi answered.

"I'm sure there are more to it?" he asked.

"I and Yagura had a little spar," Kakashi answered.

"Are you out of your mind?" Sarutobi yelled at him, "Do you know what consequences that could have for the village? I can't let it be known that my ninja has attacked a Kage like that. Our diplomatic stance is already weak, and you go around ruining it like that. And what made you think you'd even win, Yagura didn't charm his way to Kage, even I would think twice about facing him in a battle, and it would be a death wish to do it in the Hidden Mist."

"I felt I owed Minato-Sensei and Naruto it," Kakashi answered back.

"Give me one good reason to not ship you back to Yagura and let him finish his work? This is on the border to treason."

"You need me to teach Sasuke and to steer him on the right path, we're quite similar I feel."

"You better take your job seriously then, and if you think about visiting Mist again, I'll send your head on a silver plate to the Mizukage. You're dismissed, and don't show yourself here again before passing your team."

It was time to arrange another meeting with his old friend. At first, he needed someone to check on Sasuke, but now it seems like he needs eyes on both of them. Hopefully one of his agents could act like a human being.

-x-

Sakura was waiting patiently on her new Sensei and tried to steal a look at Sasuke when he wasn’t paying attention. She'd hoped he was more open to her now that they were teammates, but so far no luck, she just had to give him some time.

"You three, meet me on the roof," a white-haired man said from the doorway before he disappeared.

"Three?" She said to herself, looking behind her, she saw a creepy pale as chalk boy smiling at her.

Sasuke was already on his way out.

"Wait for me," she called out and ran after him.

-x-

"Hmm," Kakashi mumbled and looked at his three students after hearing them introduce themselves.

"Anything wrong," Sakura asked.

"No, I was just thinking, you three are quite, I'm not sure what to say, special?" Kakashi mumbled. "But you're not proper Genin yet, I'll test you again properly tomorrow."

"Another test?" Sasuke grumbled. "What was the point of the graduation test then?"

"Ah, that was just to weed out the weakest and save us Jounin some time, I'll recommend that you don't eat breakfast tomorrow. It's for your own good. Let's meet again at training ground 7 at sunrise”. Kakashi jumped down from the roof and left them to their own devices.

He sighed, he didn't know exactly who this Sai was, apart from the fact that it was not his real name, who sent him. and that it was not good news. He knew he was being watched, and even if he couldn't detect anything, he knew that Sai was following him. He picked up his speed to test the boy, if he could keep up and still not be detected, he might be a quite valuable addition to the team once Danzo’s brainwashing has lost its effect.

-x-

This was the weirdest task Mangetsu ever had received, he trusted Yagura, but now it seemed like the man had gone a bit insane, sure he was glad Yagura had taken a stop to finally improve the village, but it wasn't good if Yagura lost it.

But now he was here, preparing to take on his first Genin team, apart from the fact that one of them was Konoha's old Jinchuuriki, other was a rebel spy and the last one was the Mizukage himself.

He was mostly supposed to keep the act up for the Jinchuuriki and give the boy a friendly view of the village, and it wouldn't be a hard task, as the boy had no idea how a Jounin-Sensei would actually act. What he should be worried about was Yagura punishing him for messing up, the younger ninja seemed to have grown a much softer side recently. But the stress caused by failure could send Yagura over the edge, and that would only mean bad things for the village. Or even worse, the Konoha Jinchuuriki would lose control. There were all sorts of bad ideas involved here, but he knew better than challenging the Mizukage on this. Despite him being an adult, he could be just as stubborn as his appearance would suggest.


End file.
